MYSTICAL MENTORS
The Philosopher’s Stone & Cosmic Sciences of Antiquity 4 By Randall Carlson
That the legendary Holy Grail of western esotericism has a cosmic dimension of meaning has been the theme of three articles published in the pages of Oracle 20/20 Magazine previous to this month’s contribution. The Holy Grail story has intrigued the minds and piqued the curiosity of seekers of knowledge for centuries, without, however, yielding up either its secrets or a consensus of interpretation. We ended last month’s article with a quote from a modern exploration of the Grail mythos, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a best seller in the mid 1980s that eventually served as the main source of inspiration for The Da Vinci Code, a fictionalized popularization of certain aspects of Grail symbolism.
In last month’s article I wrote of the Language of the Birds, the secret language of Initiates, Alchemists and Adepts of the Mysteries. It could either be spo- ken or written. I described how it was based on the use of puns, homilies, synonyms, etymolo- gies and plays-on- words that concealed secondary and even tertiary levels of meaning that only made sense to those with the keys to decipherment and the conceptual framework to make sense of the alternate mean- ings. Several examples of its use relevant to the question of the Grail were presented. Another example of the use of this method and one germane to this subject matter was provided by the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail:
“…In many of the earlier manuscripts the Grail is called the Sangraal; and even in the later version by Malory it is called the Sangreal. It is likely that some such form―Sangraal or Sangreal―was in fact the original one. It is also likely that that one word was subsequently broken in the wrong place. In other words, “Sangraal” or “Sangreal” may not have been intended to divide into “San Graal” or “San Greal”―but into “Sang Raal” or “Sang Réal.” Or, to employ the modern spelling, Sang Royal. Royal blood.”
The dual meaning arises as a result of where one chooses to break the word. Split the term Sangreal between the letters n and g it becomes San Greal, ‘Holy Grail’. Split it between the g and the r and it becomes Sang Raal, or ‘Royal Blood.’ The point here has not to do with the question of which translation for Sangreal is correct, Holy Grail’ or ‘Royal Blood’, rather it is that the mystery of the Grail includes both meanings.
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So we must consider the meaning of the Grail as chalice, or platter, as it is frequently described, in association with the idea of blood as a symbol. Let’s first address the role of blood, which plays a central role both in the Christian mystery tradition and in Christian orthodoxy.
In its most well known incarna- tion the Grail is the cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, the Passover meal consumed on the eve of the crucifixion. Mark, chapter 14 describes the events at that sacred repast:
And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
And he said unto them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many.
So this cup, from which the twelve drank, was the Grail, and whatever substance the cup held, presumably wine, was identi- fied with the blood of Christ himself. Through the sharing of the cup and the consumption of its contents Jesus was sym- bolically (we presume) passing to his disciples the quality of his blood. But we must remem- ber that the identification of the Grail with the Eucharistic vessel was a later development. The early accounts, primarily that of
Chretien de Troyes describes it in very different terms. We will come back to his work momentarily.
The anonymous early 13th century author of Perlesvaus wanted to make sure that the reader made the con- nection with blood at the very outset of the tale, so he declared by way of preamble: “Hear ye the history of the most holy vessel that is called the Grail, in which the precious blood of Jesus was received on the day that He was put on the Cross.”
The importance of the ‘precious’ blood of Jesus is implied in the very first verses of the New Testament. Matthew, chapter 1, verses 1 through 16 identifies the bloodline stretching from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through David and Solomon down to Joseph, “the hus- band of Mary, of whom was born Jesus.” David and Solomon, both being kings must have borne the ‘royal blood’ as history has shown this to be the prerequisite for kingship throughout almost all ancient cultures. The preeminent position of this dynastic lineage in the New
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